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COTA CTSC Notebook

Tony DiZinno’s CTSC notebook from Circuit of the Americas…

Photo: Tony DiZinno

Photo: Tony DiZinno

***The Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.R has been given a 7 mm restrictor reduction (75 mm down to 68 mm) and a 200 rpm reduction from 6,300 to 6,100, as the major pre-Circuit of the Americas Balance of Performance adjustment. Stevenson Motorsports Camaro’s pair of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell lead Fall-Line Motorsports BMW driver Trent Hindman by two points entering the weekend (263-261), while Chevrolet is up by 24 in the GS Manufacturer’s Championship over BMW (332-308).

***The other pre-race BoP adjustment of note is that both the Porsche Boxster and Cayman have been issued a 100 rpm reduction, from 7,350 to 7,250.

***Official results came out late Wednesday night at COTA confirming two exclusions from the most recent race at Virginia. The No. 81 Bimmerworld 328i of Greg Liefooghe and Tyler Cooke, and the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si of Ryan Eversley and Kyle Gimple, were excluded for a violation of Rule 15-3.1 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge 2014 rulebook. That reads: Any device, system, procedure, construction or design, for the purpose and/or effect of which is any increase whatsoever, even temporarily, of the total fuel storage capacity beyond the maximum, is prohibited. The BMW had finished third, and the Honda fifth, unofficially in ST.

***Rum Bum Racing sees Nick Longhi step out of the cockpit of the team’s No. 13 Porsche 997 and graduate to the engineering side of the team as technical director. Hugh Plumb will race alongside brother Matt in Austin this weekend, with Brandon Davis stepping in next to Matt in Atlanta in two weeks.

***Jeff Westphal will run double duty in what he jokingly called “the coolest event of the year, weather-wise.” The Californian steps into the ST class No. 22 Burton Racing BMW 128i alongside Connor Bloum, which he’ll race along with his No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

***Andrew Palmer replaces Brett Sandberg in this weekend in Rebel Rock Racing’s No. 7 Porsche 997. Palmer has raced in both the TUDOR Championship and World Challenge this season.

***CJ Wilson Racing returns to the site of its first Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge pole, fastest lap and race win (all achieved last March) with one of its cars taking on a different livery. Total Oil/MotorOilMatters.org will adorn the now red-and-white No. 3 Mazda MX-5 (ST) driven by Marc Miller and Tyler McQuarrie.

***TRG-AMR’s second GS class Aston Martin GT4 is back in action, with Tom Papadopoulos and Derek DeBoer sharing the No. 09  car. Papadopoulos joins the list of those pulling double duty between CTSC and the TUDOR Championship.

***Robert Stout fills in alongside Ricardo Flores’ in Racers Edge Motorsports’ second Ford Mustang Boss 302R, the No. 68 entry in GS. Cody Ellsworth, who was originally listed to the car, will share the No. 40 Porsche Boxster with Corey Lewis for BERG Racing in ST. Additionally at Racers Edge, David Calvert-Jones makes a last-minute cameo in place of Lucas Bize alongside David Levine in the team’s No. 78 Ford.

***Jon Miller will pull double duty within the same race, starting in the No. 95 Irish Mike’s Racing Hyundai Genesis and finishing in his usual No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si. Both cars are in ST.

***Pro Mazda driver Jason Rabe makes his Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge debut in the No. 31 Bodymotion Racing Porsche Cayman (ST) alongside Lukas Johnson.

***Beaux Barfield’s appointment as IMSA Race Director not only covers the TUDOR Championship but also CTSC. This marks one of the quieter weekends this year for additional IMSA content, with only CTSC and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA also on the weekend schedule. Both series are paddocked up the hill, north of the main paddock.

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) is Sportscar365's North American Editor, focusing on coverage of the IMSA-sanctioned championships as well as Pirelli World Challenge. DiZinno also contributes to NBCSports.com and other motorsports outlets. Contact Tony

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